# Buffy vs Angel

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 13, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855 "2018-07-13T18:33:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/1 "2018-07-13T18:33:17Z")

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Which show did you like better?

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/2 "2018-07-13T18:41:41Z")

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I’m an Angel guy myself. When I was working nights, it was on in the mornings (and just about the only decent show on in the morning at the time), and Buffy was not. I had never really watched Buffy so it was mostly entirely new to me, and most of the frequent Buffy references went over my head, but I pieced it together from the clues provided and it was still a compelling show despite that.

I’ve watched most of Buffy since then, and I enjoyed it, but I just don’t like it as much. It seemed very messy to me, with a lot of stuff going on in a lot of places, where Angel seemed much more focused, to me at least.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/3 "2018-07-13T18:41:58Z")

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**Buffy.**

Plusses:  
I met my wife on a Buffy message board.  
The whole “school/growing up = horror movie” thing  
Overall excellent writing/acting  
“Hush,” “Pangs,” “The Body,” “Once More, With Feeling”

Minuses:  
“Beer Bad”  
Marti Noxon as show runner Season 6  
**Angel** had higher highs (“Smile Time,” “Not Fade Away”) but also lower lows (Season 4). **Buffy** wins for higher average show strength.

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**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/4 "2018-07-13T19:04:19Z")

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Buffy easily. I actually gave up on Angel at one point and stopped watching and only came back for crossovers and the final few episodes. I eventually went back and watched what I had missed. The season with teenage Angryson McAngstyface was a chore.

Buffy was great. Event the weak episodes have good moments and the weakest seasons (6 and 7) have gems of episodes.

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/5 "2018-07-13T19:25:53Z")

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Buffy. Didn’t take even a moment’s reflection.

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/6 "2018-07-13T19:40:11Z")

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Buffy easily, when I was watching. Though I liked it okay, I never even bothered watching the last season of Angel. But then I discovered Buffy when it was first airing.

Now? I can’t watch either, they’ve lost all replay value for me. There is something irritatingly dated to them that I can’t quite put my finger on. Having been part of the fandom briefly didn’t help( pretty much the only fandom I ever dug into in terms of community ). I can still watch _Firefly_ for some reason, but I doubt I will ever revisit old Buffy/Angel stuff.

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/7 "2018-07-13T19:54:06Z")

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I went with both equally. Both shows had poor seasons but when they found their way they hit it out of park. Buffy probably has more signature episodes (“Hush”, “Once More with Feeling”, “The Body”) but I liked the characters on Angel more. They also tackled more interesting topics in Angel.

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/8 "2018-07-13T19:57:27Z")

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Buffy, by far. In fact, I didn’t really care for the Angel character on Buffy.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/9 "2018-07-13T19:57:36Z")

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Buffy. Angel I watched out of habit. Buffy I watched because I wanted to know what happened next.

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**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/10 "2018-07-13T20:19:48Z")

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The women were way hotter on Buffy. As a high school boy I loved watching that show.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/11 "2018-07-13T20:31:07Z")

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> [@silenus](#):
>
> **Angel** had higher highs (“Smile Time,” “Not Fade Away”) but also lower lows (Season 4). **Buffy** wins for higher average show strength.

Angel season 4 is one of my favorite seasons of all Buffy/Angel.

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/12 "2018-07-13T20:31:45Z")

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> [@Oredigger77](#):
>
> As a high school boy I loved watching that show.

I think this is what is making the difference for me. I never watched either show until I was well out of high school, so I just related more the fully adult world of Angel. I was already past the whole high-school/teenager thing.

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**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/13 "2018-07-20T01:02:05Z")

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Angel season 2 was the best thing Joss Whedon related ever. Yeah even counting Firefly (which I actually watched for its entire original run, take that. johnny come latelies only knowing it from dvd and sheeit)

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/14 "2018-07-20T02:00:20Z")

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Angel, by a good long shot. The only problem I had with season four was that, wants the Beast/Jasmine arc started rolling, you simply had to watch every episode. There was no let up.

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**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/15 "2018-07-20T03:38:22Z")

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Buffy. No contest for me.

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**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/16 "2018-07-20T14:27:53Z")

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Buffy (and really only early Buffy for me). The only good thing to come out of Angel was Amy Acker.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/17 "2018-07-20T15:11:33Z")

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_Buffy_. I love _Angel_, but _Buffy_ was better - SMG carried the lead better, the ensemble was tighter, and it was overall fresher. Funnier, too. Plus I prefer a school setting to a corporate one, any day.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/18 "2018-07-21T17:32:57Z")

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I like them both a lot. I give an edge to _Buffy_, though, because they kept Willow through all 7 seasons, while _Angel_ lost Fred to Illyria. I was glad that Illyria was still Amy Acker, yet it wasn’t the same at all. I loved Fred, but Illyria was so weird.

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-vs-angel/817855/19 "2018-07-22T05:50:28Z")

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I liked both, but Buffy was better.
